Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1489777
T here have been several Anaheim I Supercrosses over the years. However, there has only been one actual Anaheim 1 race, and that, of course, was the very first held on the infield of Anaheim Stadium in 1976, just 10 years after the 43,202-seat stadium was built and became home of the California Angels (as it was called then) baseball team. The stadium has 45,517 seats today but at one time had as many as 65,158 when the Los Angeles Ram NFL football team moved in for a while. The 1976 race was billed as the American Motocross Finals. In our cover- age of the race, written by one of our Cycle News staff editors Jody Weisel, the now longtime editor of Motocross Action Mag- azine, the word "Supercross" was never used, despite the race counting toward the 1976 AMA Supercross Champion- ship. It was the championship's final points-paying round and held late in the year on a chilly December 4 evening. According to our report, the upcoming Anaheim race was one of the most talked about in U.S. motocross history and had its fair share of controversy leading up to the event, which threatened the race from even happening. For the night, race organizers had devised a new racing format that consisted of four heat races, two semi-finals, and a consolation (aka Last Chance Qualifier) that whittled down the 80 racers entered to 24 for the 20-lap main event. This new spectator-friendly format, however, wasn't a big hit for some of the marque riders who tried to lead a boycott of the race. They also wanted more money. The race offered a $20,000 purse, which we said was, at the time, the biggest single payday in stadium motocross history. Mike DiPrete, the AMA National Moto- cross Manager, got the riders together for a meeting and convinced them to try this new "Class C" format. "We are building for the future," DiPrete was quoted in Cycle News. "Stadium moto- cross has the biggest crowds and the biggest purses. It is obvious that more people will be able to get a taste of motocross in the stadiums this year than at any time in the past. All of motocross, both outdoors and indoors, will benefit." The riders were satisfied enough with what they heard, and the show went on. CN III ARCHIVES P114 AMERICAN MOTOCROSS FINALS: THE ORIGINAL ANAHEIM 1 format, however, wasn't to lead a boycott of the which we said was, at the time, the biggest AMA National Moto them to try this new BY KIT PALMER Anaheim hosted its first Supercross race in front of 30,569 fans on December 4, 1976.